Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 28,800 Shares of Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 28,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.17, for a total value of $3,374,496.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,985,935 shares in the company, valued at $5,974,022,003.95. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 12th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $6,240,220.00.
• On Thursday, June 11th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 48,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.20, for a total transaction of $5,684,200.00.
• On Wednesday, June 10th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 26,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total value of $3,100,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,800 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.43, for a total transaction of $1,477,504.00.
• On Monday, June 8th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $1,613,095.00.
• On Friday, June 5th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00.
• On Wednesday, June 3rd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 16,300 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.19, for a total value of $1,877,597.00.
• On Tuesday, June 2nd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,750 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.39, for a total transaction of $1,105,552.50.
• On Monday, June 1st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,060 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $1,019,521.80.
• On Friday, May 29th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.75, for a total transaction of $1,037,300.00.

Aflac Trading Up 0.4%

Aflac stock opened at $117.38 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $119.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $59.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $420,078,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968,738 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1,184.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,199,000 after buying an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Aflac by 390.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,111,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,588,000 after buying an additional 885,141 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.